Top U.S. Cities for Beer Lovers

Just came back from a trip to Austin, TX, every bar had local craft beer. Pair that with great live music and artisanal food and it should have made the list.

 

I felt somewhat similarly regarding the distances. San Diego and LA really just feel like giant suburbs. They aren't proper metropolises like NYC, Philly, and Chicago. However, the 2 hour drive from San Diego to The Bruery didn't bother me because the scenery is goddamn beautiful. A far nicer drive than NYC to Philly.

 

That's cute. You could do that on foot in Portland.

edit: This easy 6 mile walking loop takes you from Hair of the Dog to Bailey's (not a brewery, but one of the best bars in the country), Deschutes, Widmer, Ex Novo, Upright, Burnside, Cascade, The Commons, and back to HotD. There are several more places on or near the route including Base Camp Brewing, Baerlic, and numerous worthwhile beer bars, but Google's ruote tool restricts you 10 destinations.

 

I've been enjoying a small place on West 45th called Beer Culture lately. It has 12 taps that seem to move, they feature many of the local breweries (including the wild ales and such) as well as well-chosen beers from other breweries to offer enough variety, and a laid back vibe. It's fairly new, and only been open about a year or two.

I'll pick up the first round if the timing works out. Cheers!

 

Or if there were public transportation, as most Midwestern towns don't have much.

 

Sounds cool. Just saying that NYC is on the same level.

 

I'm thinking of trying out District Tap House on 38th. Should be just about able to drag my sorry arse that far.

 

I've been looking to travel more and surprisingly Cleveland didn't make my top 500 places to visit. I'll have to reconsider maybe.

 

You're a certified homer so you're good being "that guy".

 

Portland, OR.

 

I dont understand the Asheville love, it would be like throwing a party and saying there will be 50 women there, but they're all ugly. It's a nice spot but the beer/breweries, except for a few are below average.

 

Enlightenment was a big loss.

I am curious what you found so off with Night Shift since I usually find them to be decent minus the big crowds at times?

 

I plan being in District Tap House about 2 PM this Friday depending on immigration, delays, etc.

 

Off-flavors in every beer I sampled on top of the fact that none of the beers were remotely good. It was sad. A head-scratcher really. But I walked out highly, highly disappointed.

 

We have a disagreement here. I can find a pretty solid beer if not a great beer at most locations in Asheville. Not ALL the beer an establishment sells may be great or above average but at least a few may be found above average. For instance, I dislike most of what Hi Wire sells but I love their Lager and their Nut Brown Ale. Catawba, has a couple beers I like, but many that are just average. Thirst Monk is brewing a particularly tasty Gose. French Broad Brewing's Wee Heavy-er Scotch Ale is very nice, rest is average. Wedge makes the best Pilsner in Asheville, when I just have to have a Pilsner (and yes, Brevard Brewing's is better). But to call Sierra Nevada, Wicked Weed, Burial, Green Man, New Belgium (now that their up and brewing), Highland Brewing Average... Um, no. I respectfully disagree with your opinion and offer mine in its stead.

 

Thanks for the report! If it's only for 3 hours I can probably send you off; I'm in the area around 4:30.

 

Breakside, hair of the dog, upright, fat heads, occidental, the commons, gigantic, cascade, deschutes, laurelwood, ex novo, great notion, hopworks. Etc etc. I just feel lucky to live in a town where I don't ever have to drink average beer. it doesn't matter if its called the best beer town or not but to me it is, not just because of the quality and amount of beer but how mature the beer culture is here. we don't get all crazy about one beer or don't have to stand in lines for hours to get a great IPA/ stout/wild ale/saison because people know that there is just too much good beer available to do such thing.

 

Cool.

 

Lots of good food too.